Estimates place the number of underground storage tanks (USTs) (as defined by the Code of Federal Regulations) in the United States at around 2 million. In 1988, the Environmental Protection Agency promulgated a new set of regulations for USTs, detailing stricter release detection, overfill prevention and containment, financial responsibility, and clean-up requirements. Under this new set of regulations, UST owners were given 10 years to bring their systems into compliance. Instead of replacing non-compliant USTs, many owners have decided to bring their tanks into compliance by upgrading and retrofitting the tanks as necessary.
One of the common areas in which upgrading and retrofitting of existing USTs is necessary is in containment sumps. A containment sump is generally defined as a liquid-tight compartment enclosing the turbine pump and piping connections at the top of an UST, which provides containment of any product leaks. However, conventional methods and processes for retrofitting existing USTs with containment sumps are fairly inconvenient. For example, in order to install the containment sump it is usually necessary to first cut, break up and remove concrete or other paving material overlying the UST and then excavate the tank backfill away from the top of the UST. Additionally, during the installation process it is often necessary to cut the existing piping associated with the turbine pump and UST.
Consequently, a need exists for an improved method and apparatus for retrofitting USTs with a containment sump.